Obama says Obamacare will give us no death panels. If we open our eyes, though, we can see exactly what lies in store. We can see the details. We just have to examine how socialized medicine works everywhere else.

Obama obviously will say whatever he supposes must be said to reach his next milestone in his quest resurrected from the hell of past collectivist failures to erase personal freedom, erase human rights, and erase human dignity – to change humanity as Obama specifies, which he presumes is possible.

Check out how Obama’s death panels are already operating, in this story (below) from “socialized” medicine.

Sarah assumed that since her son was breathing and moving, doctors would now help him – clearly he couldn’t be considered a miscarried foetus. And he was large for his gestation, measuring 28 cm, the size of a 23-week-old

Devastated: Sarah Capewell had to watch her baby die because he was too premature to receive treatment

Like all mothers, Sarah Capewell will never forget the first minutes she spent with her newborn baby. She told her tiny son how much she loved him, gently kissed his face and took photos of him wrapped in the pretty blanket she’d bought for his birth. Then she held him tightly in her arms and watched helplessly as his body grew cold and he finally stopped breathing. Sarah pleaded for help from hospital staff from the moment he was born, but none came. Jayden died when he was just two hours old. No help came because although mother and baby were surrounded by nurses and empty incubators, doctors had already decided her son would not be saved – not based on observation and assessment, but because under current guidelines paediatricians treat only babies born after 22 weeks gestation. And he was born 48 hours before that threshold. As Sarah was told when her waters broke one Wednesday last October, if she held out until the Sunday they would save her baby. Jayden was born on the Friday – so paediatricians refused not only to treat him, but, shockingly, even to see him. ‘When he was born breathing and moving, I begged the midwife to go and fetch the doctors,’ says Sarah. ‘I couldn’t believe they’d be so callous as to leave him. But she returned from the critical care unit sobbing and shaking her head.’ It made no difference to doctors that her son was breathing unaided, waving his tiny fists around as he fought on alone for two hours. According to medical guidance he was simply a miscarriage – a foetus – so he must be left to die. To Sarah, who witnessed her son’s battling strength and spirit, the decision not to help him is contemptible. ‘My son could have been saved, but doctors simply chose not to,’ says the 23-year-old from Farnmouth. ‘It’s horrendous. The doctors even refused to assess him. They said he was stillborn even though he was moving around in front of me, turning his head and waving his hands. ‘If they had just put him in an incubator I’d have been happy – I wouldn’t necessarily have wanted invasive treatment, only for him to receive some care. ‘But they wouldn’t, so while I battled desperately to keep Jayden warm with blankets, outside my room three incubators lay empty. We think he died from the cold, because premature babies can’t hold their own heat.

Clinging to life: Jayden’s tiny hand rests on his mother’s thumb during the two hours he was alive

‘Watching him stop breathing was like someone pulling out my heart and trampling over it. I went through every extreme of emotion.’ It is impossible to be unmoved by Sarah’s agonising story, which was made public this week and is now inevitably reigniting the question of when treatment should be given to newborns. Indeed, the online campaign Sarah started in January, which seeks to change the medical guidelines, has already attracted 270,000 supporters around the world. Yet the medical profession remains adamant that current practice actually protects babies from unnecessary pain. The guidance, published by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics in 2006 and backed by the British Association of Perinatal Medicine, says intensive care should never be given to babies below 22 weeks gestation, and rarely to those below 23 weeks.

My son was strong – he deserved to be given a chance

This is because babies born before this time very rarely survive, and only 1 per cent of those born between 22 and 23 weeks live beyond hospital – so doctors consider keeping them alive will only pointlessly prolong their suffering. Campaigners counter this, however, with the argument that as such premature babies never receive care, these figures are not a fair reflection of their chances of survival. Sarah points to the case of Amillia Taylor, a baby born in America at just 21 weeks and six days who was saved because doctors believed her to be a week older. Now two years old, she is a healthy child with no apparent disabilities. ‘My son was a strong baby, who was breathing on his own. He deserved a chance, at least,’ says Sarah. In fact, Jayden had already beaten the odds just by existing, as Sarah was told her chances of carrying another baby after her daughter Jodie, five, were very slim because she kept having unexplained miscarriages.

Left to die: Sarah said she should have been able to decide if her premature son was treated

While trying to conceive again, during an earlier relationship, she suffered five miscarriages before reaching eight weeks. So when she fell pregnant accidentally in May, with a boyfriend from whom she has since separated, she was shocked but delighted. ‘I’d put the prospect of another child out of my head because I thought it was impossible,’ says Sarah. ‘I was really pleased but after so many miscarriages I was also very worried and tried not to build up too much hope.’ Knowing she needed to be careful, Sarah followed doctors’ advice conscientiously and rested as much as possible, arranging for a friend to run her wedding services company. But at 12 weeks she was admitted to hospital with pain and bleeding. Placental abruption was later diagnosed, a dangerous condition for both mother and baby that often results in premature birth. She spent the next eight weeks in and out of hospital as the condition worsened, desperately hoping not to miscarry. Thankfully, when her contractions began at 20 weeks and she was admitted to the delivery ward late last September, scans showed a healthy baby boy. When Sarah went into labour the following Thursday, she was not surprised: she had spent months reading up on her condition, so she fully understood the risk of premature birth and how midwives would manage it. But when she asked for the baby to be given steroids to strengthen his lungs before birth, the doctors broke the news that they would not be giving him any care because he was classed as a miscarriage. ‘I couldn’t believe what I was hearing,’ says Sarah. ‘I asked to be transferred to another hospital and they said that no hospital in the country would help. I felt so powerless; I wanted to get up and walk out but I couldn’t move from my bed.

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‘The paediatricians kept telling me to consider that he’d probably be stillborn and even if he was alive he’d not be properly developed and would be badly disabled. I said I understood the risks and I still wanted them to treat him, but they refused. ‘I said “If he’s born alive you have to help him,” but the doctor just replied “No, we don’t. He isn’t a baby – until 22 weeks he’s a foetus. So we don’t have to help.” Then he closed his folder and they all walked out of the room. ‘I felt like I was banging my head against a brick wall. Nobody cared for the welfare of my child.’ At 1am on the Friday, Sarah’s contractions suddenly increased, so she called the midwife who went to fetch blankets. By the time she returned Sarah had given birth to Jayden, who weighed 13.7 oz, and was alive.

Still angry: Sarah, pictured with her daughter Jodie, aged five

‘The midwife cut the cord and said the movement might just be a reflex reaction, but when she checked she confirmed he had a heartbeat and was breathing. ‘She asked me if I wanted to hold him, but I was too scared of hurting him so she brought him over, stroked his arm and said he was perfect and that I wouldn’t damage him.’ Sarah assumed that since her son was breathing and moving, doctors would now help him – clearly he couldn’t be considered a miscarried foetus. And he was large for his gestation, measuring 28 cm, the size of a 23-week-old. ‘I was overcome with panic – pleading with the midwives to help. I thought the doctors would save him because he was doing so well – he even urinated, which showed that his organs were functioning. ‘But when one midwife went to the special care unit to ask, she returned crying and stood in the door shaking her head. I asked “Are the doctors coming?” and she said “Just make the best of your time with him.” ‘It was unbearable, watching my son slowly die when he was surrounded by equipment and nurses that could have helped. At one point I thought about putting him in an incubator myself but I simply didn’t know how.’

It was unbearable, watching my son slowly die when he was surrounded by equipment and nurses that could have helped

The hospital minister baptised Jayden at Sarah’s request. ‘After that I held my son and kept talking to him – telling him how much I loved him. I still hoped a miracle would happen and the doctors would change their mind at the last minute, but they didn’t.’ So at 3.09am, after becoming very cold and starting to cry, Sarah’s son stopped breathing. ‘As soon as he died I felt this overwhelming sense of emptiness. When your child dies, part of you dies too.’ Nurses offered to take his body to the morgue, but Sarah asked them to wait until she had been discharged. ‘A mother’s instinct is to protect her baby – you don’t want to leave him. Whether he’s dead or alive that instinct doesn’t change. ‘I ended up holding him for over 16 hours, just cuddling him. I couldn’t let him go.’ Doctors finally came to see Sarah, but their attitude only angered her more. ‘They said “Sorry about your miscarriage” while I was holding my son in my arms – it was infuriating that they wouldn’t even acknowledge he was a live baby. They kept referring to him as a foetus. ‘I was told I couldn’t have a birth certificate as it was a miscarriage, but when the doctor left the midwife went and found the policy that stated if an adequate attempt at life had been made then the child is entitled to a birth certificate. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1212924/Doctors-said-Id-miscarriage-did-premature-baby-fought-life.html#ixzz0Qw5TOENG